Florida hospital bills dead woman's estate $9.2 million

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa General Hospital has filed a $9.2 million claim against the estate of a woman who died after spending five years in the hospital, according to Hillsborough County court documents.

In court documents, that's how much the hospital says is owed for the care of Tameka Campbell. She died at age 29 two years ago of progressive demyelinating neuropathy, which occurs when the immune cells attack the body's nerves.

It is unclear whether the $9.2 million in hospital charges is a record. Health News Florida checked with the American Hospital Association,the Health Care Financial Management Association, and numerous others. No one knew anyone who keeps track.

"That would have to be the biggest bill I've heard of," said Alan Levine, a division president at the Naples-based hospital chain Health Management Associates.

"I've seen more than $1 million," he said. "But not $9 million."

Fort Myers hospital consultant Peter Young said, "A bill that large may well be in a league of its own and a Guinness Book of Records bill!"

Could be. An online search at the Guinness World Records offers no category for "largest hospital bill."

A spokeswoman for Guinness World Records said the organization will have to do a search to see if there's a related category for such an item.

Meanwhile, consultant Young said, without knowing any details, that the case is unusual. Hospital officials must believe there are resources against which a claim can be made, he said.

There aren't, said Campbell's mother Holly Bennett.

"If they think they're getting money from me they're crazy," she said. "Who's ever even heard of a bill that high?"

Bennett thinks the lawsuit is punitive, to prevent her from filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against the hospital.

"They're trying to make me go away," she said. "They're trying to cover up for the mistreatment of my daughter."

Bennett has a YouTube channel with videos that accuse the hospital of not feeding Campbell and of giving her too much morphine. The combination caused Campbell to drop to 37 pounds, Bennett says.

The videos show a young woman, presumably Tameka, lying in a hospital bed hooked up to tubes, including what appears to be a feeding tube.

Tampa General spokesman John Dunn said he can't comment on patient cases.

The hospital never sent an actual bill for its charges, Bennett said. Instead it filed the list of charges on its claim against the estate.

Guardianship records at the Hillsborough County Courthouse show that the court removed Bennett as her daughter's health-care surrogate and appointed a professional guardian. It is unclear from the documents why Bennett was removed.

The lawyer representing Tampa General said he could not comment. Bennett does not have a lawyer.

But if she acquires one and pushes forward with a wrongful death suit, the parties will either haggle and settle out-of-court or a jury and judgment would decide how much money goes to the mother, the estate or the hospital, said South Florida lawyer John Kelner.

Barry Dubinsky, a medical malpractice lawyer in Coral Springs, said hospitals frequently file claims against the estate of a patient who has died and has unpaid bills.

"Technically, you have to file in case the estate gets funded, then you've got your hand in the pot," he said of Tampa General. "It's business, it's all business. The hospital is just trying to get their money."